WHEN we say that Queen Victoria ascended her throne in 1837, we mean, if we stop to think, that she began to reign 1837 years after the birth of Christ; but if we were to count back to the year one, we should find that at that time Christ was a little boy about four; which shows that there must be some error. The truth is that a mistake was made. It was not until six hundred years after the birth of Christ that the world began to date its letters and documents from that event, and there were no men of science living who could tell exactly the year when it occurred.

We find the same difficulty in regard to all dates and eras. Some nations date from the beginning of the world, but none of them know when the world began; the Jews say that it was 3750 years before Christ; the people of Constantinople that it was 5509 years before, and so on. The Romans dated from the year of the founding of their city, but they did not even know when that event occurred; and now we find the Arabians dating from their year. One, but the world cannot tell exactly when it was. We know more nearly about this than we do when

THE COMMAND TO EMIGRATE.

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our own era begins, because the Arabian year One was so many hundred years after ours. The farther we go back in our studies of history, the more misty all matters appear. We are not surprised, therefore to find in some books the statement that the Arabian year One began on the 16th of July in the year 622 after Christ, in another that it was the 22d of September, and in another still that it was the 20th of June. It is said to have been the tenth, the thirteenth, or the fifteenth year after the Angel Gabriel had so wonderfully commanded Mohammed to read the marvellous words that he held up before his eyes. The difficulty arises from the fact that the Arabians did not call their months by the same names that we call ours, and did not make them of the same length; so that their years were irregular, and a long calculation is required to establish any date that is given us by them. Such a calculation has been made by a noted French scholar learned in these subjects, and as it seems the best that has yet been offered, we shall accept it, and assume that it was on the 19th of April, 622, A.D., that Mohammed said to his disciples, "Emigrate!" and that it was on the 20th of June of the same year that he and Abu Bekr started for their mountain cave. August Müller makes it September, however.

Dr.

The cave, lonely and remote as it was, could not have been a safe place for the two flying men, for the search was active; the scouts actually came once to its mouth, and the prophet and his companion heard their voices. According to the legend Allah had commanded a tree marvellously to grow

up before it, a spider to weave its delicate web over it, and a wild pigeon to lay eggs in a nest that it most quickly made in its branches. The searchers saw the web, and said that of course no one could be in a hole so small and covered up by a screen that would have been broken if any person had attempted to enter. So the danger passed by.

Three days the two remained hidden; a shepherd who tended the flocks of Abu Bekr driving a few goats to the cave every evening, and giving them milk, and one of his sons bringing them food every day that his sister had cooked. The son was also watching the movements at Mecca, and with the food he brought the news of what was going on. He finally reported that the city was quiet; that it was believed the prophet had gained such a start that it would not be worth while to follow him. Then the refugees ventured from their lowly hiding-place, and two camels that had been provided in advance were brought to a spot near the summit, as though they had wandered there; the faithful daughter supplied also more food, and after Mohammed and Abu Bekr had mounted they began the descent of the mountain. When the valley was reached they dared not take the usual road, but struck off to the westward in the direction of the Red Sea, until they found the track of the caravans going to Syria—a track that may well have been familiar to Mohammed at least.

By evening they were well started on the journey, and when they fondly thought that they were beyond the probability of pursuit, they beheld in the distance the approaching form of a man who, tempted

by the sum set upon the head of the prophet, had not yet given up the search. At the sight, Abu Bekr cried out, "We are lost!" Mohammed, on the contrary, said: "Allah will protect us"; and lo, as the grim leader of the troop advanced, his shaggy locks and Esau-like arms giving him a threatening appearance, his charger stumbled and threw his rider into the dust at the prophet's feet! Mohammed took advantage of the moment to make an eloquent appeal, and the warrior, assured that heaven really had interfered, cried out:

"Hold! listen to me! You have nothing to fear." "What do you wish?" asked Abu Bekr.

"I wish a writing testifying that Mohammed has received me into the number of his followers."

On the instant, the words were written by Abu Bekr on a fragment of bone, and the prophet was again free to pursue his journey. As he went slowly along, often not far from the side of the sea, he and his companion must had many a thought of those they had left behind them. "What of Ayesha? "How was Ali treated by the Koreishites aftey they found that he had known of the prophet's flight?" "How was Fatima, and were the other daughters safe?" They could only trust that Allah would incline the hearts of the members of their clans to protect the helpless from harm; there was no possibility of getting intelligence from them for a long time, either on the journey or at its end. Passers whom they encountered carried news of their progress to Mecca, however, and it was soon certainly known there that Medina was the place for which the prophet was

bound. As for Ali, he was not molested, and after a few days he started himself for the same city. Neither did the daughters nor the wives of the prophet suffer any inconvenience from the citizens so lately enraged against Mohammed.

Men from Medina were met also by the prophet, and he was encouraged by good news of the faithful, who were said to be anxiously awaiting his arrival. In due time, the travellers turned off to the east, and leaving the vicinity of the sea, took the road towards the mountains which hid from view the fruitful territory about Medina. Only inhospitable granite frowned upon them; the road led up-hill; the summer sun shone out upon them with intensity, and progress was difficult for both man and beast. One of the camels, indeed, broke down under the severity of the journey; the incident bringing to mind the words of the poet :

"Droop not my faithful camel! Now

The hospitable well is near.

Though sick at heart and worn in brow,
I grieve the most to think that thou

And I may part, kind comrade, here!
O'er the dull waste, a swelling mound,
A verdant paradise I see;

The princely date-palms there abound,
And springs that make it sacred ground
To pilgrims like to thee and me.'

The patient camel's eye,

All lustreless, is fixed in death.
Beneath the sun of Araby

The desert wanderer ceased to sigh,

Exhausted on its burning path!"

Medina lies three thousand feet above the sea